Newsletter: We Need to Hold onto Hope and Focus on Doing What We Can
Giving Voice to Survivors Helps Them Thrive
This week’s livestream will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, October 8th, from 2-3 p.m. EDT. Last week’s livestream was a great success; you can see the recording here if you missed it.
This past week, Dr. Jane Goodall, the amazing primatologist and anthropologist, left a beautiful message for the people of the world in a Netflix special. I admired her greatly and will hold her memory as a blessing. Here is part of the message she wished to share: “Every single one of us makes an impact on this planet every single day, and we get to choose what kind of difference we make. Hold on to hope, never give up, and remember: you matter. Together, we can create a better future for all living things.” Words to live by, indeed!
October 18th is the No Kings Day 2 Protest. It isn’t just being held everywhere in America, but also with people around the world, too, who wish to stand up to Trump and Authoritarianism!
On Monday, I conducted a special livestream interview on multiple social media platforms with Keith Whattley, the founder and CEO of UnCommon Law, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals serving life sentences in prison obtain parole. Patricia Krenwinkel, a former member of Charlie Manson’s cult, was convicted and sentenced to seven years to life for her participation in the gruesome cult murders. Pat has been incarcerated for 56 years and has been deemed fit for parole in 2022 and again in May of 2025. Law professor Alan Scheflin and sociologist Janja Lalich, a former cult member, each wrote a statement for the parole board. I was approached to help put a media spotlight on this case, which depends solely on Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision. Whattley explained Newsom can agree to the parole, deny the parole, or request a larger group of Parole Board Commissioners to weigh in on granting Krenwinkle the freedom for her remaining years. She is 78 years old now and regrets the actions she took when in the cult. I shared that I believe I would have committed acts of violence if Moon ordered me to do so, and I was grateful not to have to deal with the horrors that have resulted from her cult involvement. Before you judge, I invite you to listen to the whole hour, including my mention that Jon Atack is working on a book, as he has proof positive that Manson had 150 hours of Scientology processing, which played a significant role in hypnotizing his cult victims. If you can’t wait for the book and wish to know more about Manson and Scientology now, you can learn much from his YouTube video made with ex-Scientologist Natalie.
In this week’s episode of my newly rebranded podcast, Cults, Culture & Coercion, I spoke with Sarma Melngailis, who wrote her memoir, “The Girl with the Duck Tattoo.” This is a story of a man hypnotizing and controlling a brilliant, talented entrepreneur, eventually ruining her career and sending her to jail. I interviewed Sarma in 2022 about how the Netflix documentary, Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives was not an honest representation of her or the story. You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Of course, the video of my interview with Sarma is on our YouTube channel, and you can listen to it as a podcast, below:
In next week’s episode, “UNRECONCILED: A SOLO PLAY That Empowers Survivors of Catholic Church Childhood Sexual Abuse,” I feature Jay Sefton, an actor, playwright, and Licensed Mental Health Counselor living in Easthampton, Massachusetts. He is the co-author and performer of UNRECONCILED, an autobiographical story about an adolescent actor cast as Jesus in a school play directed by a parish priest. As a survivor of sexual abuse by a parish priest, he has dedicated himself to speaking out about the abuse and encouraging others to do the same. The video of our talk is available in advance for our YouTube members, so now is an excellent time to become a member of our YouTube channel!
Last week, we posted a special members-only article for our paid Substack subscribers, titled “What Happens to Investigative Journalists Who Join Cults?” In it, I address the question asked by one of our subscribers and discuss how going into an authoritarian cult “knowing it’s a cult” doesn’t grant immunity from undue influence at all. Knowing something intellectually and experiencing something emotionally are two different things. If you aren’t yet a paid subscriber, now is an excellent time to become one.
I was pleased to see that my BITE model was referenced in a fascinating Substack post, The Pandemic of Cults, by Lynne D. Feldman, M.A., J.D. In it, she describes how our culture’s immunity to manipulation, disinformation, and cultic thinking has eroded. I think you’ll find it a fascinating study; I recommend checking it out!
Please consider sharing our posts, and our Substack and YouTube Channel with at least one person each week. More is of course, even better.
In her new book, The Girl with the Duck Tattoo, Sarma Melngailis recounts her side of this traumatic story, ultimately culminating in her imprisonment on Rikers Island. She hopes that people who read her book will gain a better understanding of what happened to her and use it to warn others of their own vulnerability to online predators. She wanted to correct the story told in the Netflix documentary “Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.” Exploitative documentaries are often inaccurate, leading to media distortion and public shaming of the survivor.
Read the blog post or listen to the podcast, below:
Going into an authoritarian cult “knowing it’s a cult” doesn’t grant immunity from undue influence at all. Knowing something intellectually and experiencing something emotionally are two different things. There are several mechanisms at play in a situation like this, which is why I personally never recommend or endorse such “undercover” work by untrained and unsupervised individuals.
Read the paid subscriber article now!
As always, please let us know what you think about these pieces or what you’d like to see us discuss in the future. Thanks so much!
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